World's Best Aunt

Yesterday was my Aunt Carol's birthday (which is why I can always remember when I got engaged, because it was on her b-day). This year was a big one......80 years young. Wow!

Does this woman look 80? I don't think so either!


You could not find a better, or more generous woman than my Aunt Carol. She never married, therefore has no children of her own. So her nieces and nephews are her children. We all have enjoyed the best aunt ever! And her love has continued to spill over to the great nieces and nephews. Silky baby blankets for all the babies, and I was lucky enough to get a hand quilted white one for my girls blessing quilt, as well as Jared's "tiny blank"....his miniature version of the silky blanket to haul around. Not only that, but she likes to know what is going on with the kids, and asks them what they are doing in school, church, with friends, etc. My kids also love it when she reads them stories.

Aunt Carol values education. She has a bachelors, masters, and doctorate degree in education. She worked at BYU for years in Home and Family Education, including serving as the chair of the department. She has also taught overseas, in Japan and Turkey. Her nieces and nephews also benefit from her love of education, as she will buy their books (as long as their grades stay up!), and she also helped pay my tuition when I was in school, for which I am ever so grateful for. All the missionaries in the family benefit as well, as she buys them a suit before they go into the MTC. Aunt Carol is a world traveler. There aren't that many places she hasn't been.

To add to her generosity, she also has, or still does, serve on the boards for Utah Youth Village, and the Children's Justice Center. She sews and donates 10 teddy bears a month to the Justice Center to be given to the children they serve. Have I mentioned she just turned 80?!

I feel so blessed to have my Aunt Carol. I hope she had a great birthday, and that we get to help her celebrate many more happy and healthy years! :)

Will You Marry Me?

Ten years ago today, on the grounds of the Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple, I heard these words. I was in shock! Especially with the diamond ring that was staring at blinding me. ;) Ron will claim that he waited 5 minutes for me to answer and had to ask me again, but he is very impatient...it was only about 20 seconds before he said, "Well...." But obviously, the answer was YES! Sheesh, I'd had so many surprises that day, gimme a chance to think!

Ron and I had been long-distance "dating" since mid-February. We met on-line *gasp*, with him in Houston and me in Utah. He had been to Utah twice, and I had been to Texas twice......with lots of email and long-distance phone calls in between!

Ron knew I was planning a visit to my sister in Arizona in April, so he secretly contacted her and planned a little surprise. So on April 23rd, 1999, my sister picked me up from the airport, we dropped my things off at her house and headed to Haji-Babba's (middle eastern food) for lunch. After we sat down, Beth's cell phone rang. She answered it, then handed it to me. It was Ron. He made a little small talk, then told me to turn around...to see him walking in! Needless to say, I was shocked.

Later that afternoon, he said he wanted to go see the Mesa Temple. You'd think I would've been smart enough to figure out something was up, but no. As we were sitting by the North side reflecting pool, he pulled the ring out and popped the question. I think he just wanted to make sure there was a really good reason for him to pick up and move back to Utah.

Even with all the surprises, I am sure glad that he planned it, and it makes it even better that I was proposed to where my parents were married. My brother-in-law Scott took the picture above of us the next day at the temple.

Hooray for us, ten years! I guess I better start planning something good for August and our wedding anniversary. :)

Why I don't sew.....

Jared's New Love

I posted last year about a little BMX race we took Jared to. He had lots of fun.

Then in January we took him to an indoor race, and he competed in the actual race instead of the "Big Wheel". He did really quite well, taking 2nd in his first heat which automatically qualified him for the finals. He was doing really well, but then crashed on his last little stretch. He was pretty sad about it, and didn't even want the participation trophy he got, but he did get over it. Since then he's been talking about racing this summer when the outdoor track opens again. It also helps that our next door neighbor, Kolin, is really into it, and Jared thinks Kolin is awesome!

As it turns out, this year our neighbors were getting their other son, Kaden, a new racing bike, so they asked if we were interested in buying his old racing bike. We took them up on it, so Jared is the proud owner of a "new-to-him" RedLine chro-moly BMX hybrid racing bike.

The track organizers are starting to get the track ready for the race season, and today had a little work session that if the kids (and Dad's) came to help out with some weeding and raking, they could practice on the track for a bit when they were done. Jared was so, so wanting to go and try out his racing bike that Ron put aside the other things he needed to do (such a good Dad!), and took Jared up. It didn't take much work to ready the track, so the 20 or so racers there got some good practice time in. A few of the regulars were talking to Ron, and asking about Jared, and told him that "he's going to be good"....I'm not sure what they look at to determine that, but I guess we'll just wait and see what happens this summer as the racing begins...

Spring Break FUN!

Well, since Mother Nature decided to dump snow on any outdoor plans we may have had on Thursday, we decided to find some indoor fun. So we took the kids to a local amusement center: "Jump On It".

They had lots of fun and expended a lot of energy (yay!). Ellie wasn't so sure of it until about the last 20 minutes, when she'd finally jump with me holding her hand. Once she realized she was fine, she ventured out on to the trampolines on her own, but was very possessive and would get off as soon as someone else got on "her" tramp!

Unbelievable.

Believe it. Seven and a half inches. I don't think we'll be getting our lawn aerated today. At least we have blue sky this morning......please stay blue sky and sunshine! Please!

Suggestion Box?

Dear Mother Nature,

Please excuse me for this intrusion into your very busy life, but I have just a bit of a complaint I'd like to file. Just a small one really.

I think perhaps, sweet Mother Nature, that you are a bit confused this year about the date or season, and what the appropriate weather may be for said date/season. You see, it is April 15th.

Mid April.

Almost a month after the first day of SPRING.

You remember Spring.....warmer weather, flowers blooming, snow melting, trees leafing out, warmer weather, sunnier days, some rain storms, no more snow....warmer weather.

It's Spring Break for my kids this week. Monday was sunny and somewhat warm. They were able to play outside happily. It was dry. They wore shorts and t-shirts. We were looking forward to a fun week outside playing. All those plans were abandoned Tuesday when it got cold and really rainy. Now today.....THIS:


I had to turn THIS on in the Family Room:

And my kids are not wearing shorts and t-shirts. Instead, they are in the jeans, long sleeves, and fleece attire from January.


So really Mother Nature.....would you want to be cooped up in the house for Spring Break because of snow and cold?! Neither do I! It stinks that I put the snowpants away, the mittens have been lost, and the coats are all on the small side, because tomorrow would be a perfect day to take the kids for their first skiing lesson.

Maybe next year we'll give you a little "heads up" so we can actually celebrate Spring during our time off from school. Now.....where can I find the suggestion box to stick this letter into?!

Sincerely-

Crazy and Cooped-up in Utah.

PS....Do you like Ellie's toothbrush and stickers?! We ALL went to the dentist today for a check-up. The only cavity in the bunch? ME.

nice. :)

PPS....I hope Mother Nature doesn't strike me with lightning for registering this complaint. For you own safety, you may not want to stand too close to me for a few months....

Happy Birthday Ron!

Today is Ron's birthday!!!! Happy birthday to my husband, father of my kiddos, and best friend! :)

I hope he had a good day...hard to beat last year as we spent the day renting a speed boat and playing around on Lake Powell, but we can't do that every year!

He got his "big" gift a day early since I picked it up yesterday afternoon and needed help unloading it. A new BBQ grill. Our old one was, well, pathetic. :) So we fired up the new one tonight and grilled a yummy dinner of a chipotle marinated tri-tip roast. It was GREAT! Ron also got some new clothes, a book, DVD, and treats from the kids. We ended the evening with a cake, and letting the little kids blow out the candles 10-20 times on their own pieces of cake. Their daddy's birthday will be memorable for the kids at least. But I do know that we will enjoy his gift every time we fire it up this summer. :)

Coming Clean

Okay, okay. The picture below was photoshopped. :) Hard to tell though, huh? ;)

We went up the the kids favorite park in the foothills last week, and they were up playing around, and Ron was taking still pictures with his new toy video camera. When we got home, we saw that picture and laughed because both of the kids were looking over at the same spot with an odd look. I mentioned it looked like they were seeing something scary like a a bear or something so he photoshopped one in! I thought for fun I'd just put the picture up to see what the reactions were! :)

I bet you all thought this was another spring cleaning post, didn't you?! I wish. But not much of that is going on with it being spring break for the kids. Lot's of messing up of the house, with toys and junk everywhere, but very little picking up, as usual. I'll get back in the cleaning groove when I'm down a few kids on a daily basis.

On slate for today, celebrating Ron's birthday. We'll make it fun for him, as he's still feeling a bit shell shocked at how old it is this year....anyone care to guess?!

Our park in the foothills